Originally Posted by
Beachfun71
I am sure you are very correct, but some people think that the relationship of an annually paid club membership should be viewed differently than that of a transactional, per-flight relationship.
Some people may very well desire to think that, but as it turns out, the entity offering said access is the party that actually sets the terms. The "buyer" of course doesn't have to buy if those terms do not work for them any longer. Furthermore, I think the idea that these are "membership clubs" is pretty dated. There is a history as to why airlines in the US created a "membership club" systems for their lounges (relative to the rest of world). I won't repeat that here but its easy enough to research. Suffice it to say, at this point, domestic lounge access on the big 3 US carriers is simply paid access to a lounge when meeting the terms and conditions set forth for said access. People can not like that and certainly choose to opt out, but that is the new world we live in and given the ever increasing number of people choosing to fly each year, it's not likely to change back.
Regards